CHICAGO FILM SCHOOL ALTERNATIVE

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS is the country’s 3rd largest DMA, ranking behind only New York and Los Angeles.   The city is rich is sports history playing host to the Chicago Cubs and White Sox in baseball, the Bulls in basketball, the Bears in the NFL and the Blackhawks in NHL.  From a media perspective, all four networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX) own and operate Chicago TV stations.  Both The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Jerry Springer Show call Chicago their home.  

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Walt Disney, Harrison Ford, John Cusack, John Mahoney, Dorothy Hamill, Quincy Jones, Pat Sajak, Robin Williams and Benny Goodman all were born in Chicago.  Jazz was first used to describe the type of music playing in Chicago in 1914.  Playboy, the zipper, softball, Daytime Soap Operas, the Ferris wheel and Twinkies all got their start in Chicago.

Chicago has aggressively marketed itself as a great film location since the term of Mayor Jane Byne in the early eighties.  Countless films have been shot in Chicago including:  A League of Their Own, About Last Night, Bad Boys, Barbershop 1 and 2, Back in Business, The Blues Brothers 1 and 2, The Break Up, Cheaper by the Dozen, Derailed, Dick Tracy, The Express, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Flatliners, The Fugitive, I, Robot, The Lake House, Little Man, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Mean Girls, Mo' Money, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, most of the National Lampoon Vacation movies, Natural Born Killers, Oceans 11 and 12, Shall We Dance? and Ultraviolet.  Altogether, IMDB recognizes more than 1575 feature films, TV series or specials that were made in Chicago.

TV has also has an affinity for the Chicago locale: According to Jim, Barbershop: The Series, ER, Good Times, The Jenny Jones show, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Loop, Marrie...with Children, MTV Chicago, My Boys, My Block Chicago, Pepper Dennis, Prison Break, Punky Brewster and Wild Card.  Second City began in Chicago in 1959 before expanding into Toronto in 1973.  Alumni from both locations populated Saturday Night Live for years.

The rapid pace, and high volume of TV and film production in the city allows FILM CONNECTION to offer its Chicago Film and TV students exceptional opportunities to learn, one-on-one, from a working professional mentor on the set of a major feature film or current TV show.

 With strong professional connections and relationships forged over the years, FILM CONNECTION is in an unique position to help fulfill the student’s dreams of a career in the film and tv industry.  Using FILM CONNECTION’s original,  hands-on, one-on-one, on-the-job method of teaching, using the mentor/apprentice approach, over 70% of Chicago FILM CONNECTION graduates go on to have a career in film and tv—often times being hired before they finish their FILM CONNECTION course.